Friday, May 08, 2015
Kabir––"Between the Conscious and the Unconscious"––poem
Between the conscious and the unconscious, the mind has put up a swing
By Kabir
(15th Century)
English version by Robert Bly
Between the conscious and the unconscious, the mind has put up a swing:
all earth creatures, even the supernovas, sway between these two trees,
and it never winds down.
Angels, animals, humans, insects by the million, also the wheeling sun and moon;
ages go by, and it goes on.
Everything is swinging: heaven, earth, water, fire,
and the secret one slowly growing a body.
Kabir saw that for fifteen seconds, and it made him a servant for life.
